you were a vision in the morning when the light came through
by softiesharpie
Summary: It's Christmas morning and Sara's birthday and as excited as they are for the holiday festivities, Sara and Ava still want to spend the morning together in bed.


Sara groaned and hid her face in Ava's chest as the artificial lighting filtered in, thanks to Gideon.

She felt Ava chuckle before she heard it and shivered when Ava moved her arm from around her to pull the blankets up more.

"Good morning and happy birthday, my love." Ava said, words heavy with tiredness but still so very soft.

They both loved mornings like this. Mornings when they didn't have to immediately get out of bed and go to work. Mornings like these were scarce, with the magical fugitives constantly giving them trouble.

"Too early." Sara groaned, pulling the blankets over her head to hide from the light.

Ava rolled her eyes fondly, her hands going down to gently pull the blankets away from Sara's face so she could look it her.

She always looked so soft in the mornings. Her freckles more visible in the dim lighting and her blonde hair spread out over her back. Her cheek was pressed against Ava's chest, face calm and relaxed. Ava felt lucky to be able to see this vulnerable side of Sara.

"Babe, it's 9am. That's far from early." She giggled.

Sara just shook her head and repeated, "too early."

Sara's arm wrapped around Ava to pull her closer, tangling their legs together as she tried to get comfortable again. She was ready to go back to sleep.

Ava reached over and tucked a strand of Sara's hair behind her ear, letting the back of her fingers gently run over her cheek for a moment, over the freckles that scattered over it. She felt Sara lean into her touch, even in her half asleep state, and couldn't help but smile.

"Sara, honey, the team's probably already out there waiting for you to come out and open your presents."

Sara froze, arm tightening around Ava. "My presents." She repeated.

"Yeah, babe. It's December 25th... AKA your birthday and Christmas." Ava frowned. "Are you feeling alright?" She asked, already going to touch Sara's forehead to check for a fever.

"I'm fine." Sara halfheartedly batted Ava's hands way. "I'm just really tired and really comfortable right here."

Ava sighed. She herself was quite comfortable there too, she just didn't want to keep the team waiting if they wanted Sara to open her presents now.

"Gideon?"

"Yes, Miss Sharpe?"

"Where are the rest of the Legends?"

Sara yawned and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up in case the team needed her.

"Mr. Tarazi and Charlie are in the galley, Mr. Palmer and Mr. Heywood are in the lab, Miss Darhk is still asleep and Mick is in his room drinking." Gideon responded.

"So no ones waiting for us to come out?"

"No, Miss Sharpe. They all appear to be content with not rushing to start the holiday festivities."

Ava sighed in relief and allowed herself to relax in the bed again. "Thank you, Gideon."

Sara smiled and snuggled back against Ava. She closed her eyes and tried to drift back off to sleep but frowned when she couldn't.

She was too awake now to sleep again.

"Damn it." She whispered.

Ava frowned, "what is it?"

"I can't go back to sleep," Sara sighed, "I guess I'm awake now."

Ava bit her lip and started to play with Sara's hair absentmindedly. "Well... since you're awake we could watch a movie or something? And then go out there with the team when it's done."

Sara thought about that for a moment before smiling. "Not a bad idea." She settled back against Ava. "You can pick something. I don't care what."

Ava grabbed the remote and scrolled through Netflix movies before she landed on one.

"Have you ever seen this?" She asked.

Sara squinted her eyes slightly as she read it. "Carol? No, I haven't."

Ava's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

Ava was shocked. "You've never seen Carol? It's a classic holiday movie, babe!" She said, quickly starting it.

"What's it about?" Sara asked, now intrigued.

"You'll see." Ava smiled, continuing to play with Sara's hair as her other hand ran up and down Sara's bare back.

Sara sighed happily, loving the attention. She loved how comfortable they were with each other now - that they weren't afraid to be this vulnerable anymore.

"Oh she's hot." Sara said when the main blonde was on the screen.

"She is." Ava said. "But this part's really good and important so pay attention." Sara thought it was adorable how excited Ava was to show her this movie.

Sara was surprised by how much she liked it. She knew Ava had great taste in films, but she didn't expect for the movie to be that good.

Midway through the movie, Sara noticed Ava tracing little patterns on her back with her fingertips and smiled when she realized that they were hearts.

This sort of domesticity was something Sara never thought she'd have. Time travel was complicated enough without bringing a relationship into the mix.

It did help that Ava already knew about her past and her job when they got together, knew how hard it was sometimes to be the leader of a team who depended on her.

It surprised Sara how much she and Ava had in common once they started to get to know each other.

She loved learning new things about Ava, even the small things like how Ava loved fluffy socks and has to wear them every day in the winter, even hiding them under her pant cuffs at work. She knew how Ava had a lucky pin that she always carried around with her and how she hated flip flops with a passion (Sara still didn't quite understand that one).

Every new thing she learned about Ava just made her fall more in love with her. Ava Sharpe was a beautifully complex woman, as was Sara. They complimented each other well, despite still being very different on many levels.

Years ago if someone would've asked Sara if she'd be cuddling with her longterm girlfriend in bed having a lazy morning while not caring about anything, she wouldn't have believed them.

But now, laying contently in Ava's arms with this great movie playing in the background, Sara realized that this was something she never wanted to give up.

She wanted to wake up in Ava's arms every morning, wanted Ava to get playfully annoyed at her every time she wanted to keep sleeping, she wanted the little things like how Ava was holding her just right. Tight enough to where there was virtually no space between them — Sara loved how perfectly their bodies fit together.

She wanted this forever, and that realization hit her hard. It overwhelmed her with all of those soft and fuzzy feelings you see in cheesy romance movies.

She wanted a life with Ava, dirty dishes and all. She wanted everything with her. She just hoped Ava wanted the same.

But, by the way Ava would occasionally glance at Sara and smile at her like she was the most precious thing she'd ever seen while holding her even closer, Sara was sure Ava felt the same. And that was enough for her.


End file.
